Two middle aged cyclists set off from Worthing UK, towards Australia

Kit lists

Since setting off (in chilly April), we’ve bought a few additional things, like sun shirts, and maps, and sent back two chunky packages to England, of surplus warm clothing, or underutilised gear, and of course, used maps (unless we met someone going the other way).

Before leaving, both Gid and I were somewhat neurotic about weighing kit. Our bags weighed similarly, at around 25 kg. Since then, Gid has added a few extra tools and bits where as I have exchanged items, such the cooking pots, for lighter weight kit. I don’t know what the present difference is but, at the start, Clare was faster up the hills!

As we travelled across warm India and hot SE Asia, we posted quite a bit of cooler weather stuff home. By the time we flew from Bali to Cairns, this is what the airport scales told us:

Both bikes, boxed, with locks and (Gid) shoes and tools – 40kg. Oddly, the checkin scales suggested only 16kg of this was Clare’s, which we don’t believe.

Each hold bag, comprising one rear pannier and two fronts, wrapped up in a rice sack – approx 10.5kg.

Hand baggage of one unfull rear pannier and a Barbag – only Gid’s was weighed – 7.5kg.

So total weight between the two of us was 76kg. This was a Jetstar flight and we’d purchased 40kg of hold baggage each, including the bikes.

Under tube bag – Canon compact camera (Sent home from India as unusable in sunlight), monocular. Frame bag sent home from SE Asia.

A contribution to the tool kit as Gid carries the main tool kit

Puncture repair kit

Spare inner tube, Shraeder Presta adapter.

Spare Mondials folding tyre

Camp kit

Cooking kit – Whisperlite Universal stove inc. gas & petrol adapter

Foil wind breaks

1 ½ + 1 Lt Titanium cook pots: Apparently these have a reputation for a lack of heat distribution resulting in burnt food. In all the years we’ve been camping and used stainless steel, aluminium and galvanised pots, we’ve never managed to not burn the food no matter what material the pot is made from, but I am hopeful as the Whisperlite is, reportedly, able to simmer, where as many burners (no pun intended) can’t, that we may succeed in the future. The titanium ones also weigh less than half the weight of the steel ones we nearly bought with us.

3 x spork -2 titanium & one plastic (until it broke in India, was to use in cooking pot if necessary)

The best hotel kit ever, Clare’s Xmas present, purchased in Udaipur for about £3. Hot drinks in any hotel room! Changed to a USA/Thai plug in Myanmar. The guy in that shop was quite bemused when I gave him three USA or Euro to India adaptors.

Thermartex ultra light blanket
Silk sleeping bag liner

Down 400 fill sleeping bag

Mosquito net (posted to Bishkek, for India)

Exped 7 Down UL sleeping mat (I broke my Exped 7 Down sleeping mat with pump, which is a thicker weight mat, and have bought this ultra-light one which is lighter and takes up less space but it might well be a mistake. I have, however, got lots of puncture repair patches)

All purpose soap, and from India on, a bar of laundry soap.

Mini foam folding mat.

Mini stool

Neoprene 4mm full length mat. Destroyed as bike packing for Gaya to Yangon flight, as a yoga mat was bought in Varanasi. Much heavier, but can do yoga. Discarded in Bali, new sleeping mat in Cairns.

General stuff

4 x water filters that screw into water bottle (2 each, but dumped the oldest ones late in India)

MSR water filter pump + water bottle that it fits onto) (Sent home from SE Asia).

About barbag: Top of range (Orkney?) I must’ve had it a decade. The detachable front bag gaped open and has no conceivable use except used tissues; I’ve never used it. Within not long I’d realised Altura’s lid closure let the lid bounce open. A loop of bungee over the top fixes that, and holds stuff on top. Altura’s self tapping screws into plastic fell out within a year, detaching the bracket from bag – fixed on tour using M3 or M4 bolts. After about five years the map case had gone yellow and opaque, although my LBS turned out to have the spare. That started to go yellow in maybe Turkey, I guess it’s UV, but then I stuck a flannel over it and it stopped getting worse. The map case Velcro comes off occasionally, but shoe glue fixes it back. You’d think this was a crap bag! Yet it works well, with my mods. It doesn’t let water in, provided I secure it properly, and don’t open it in the rain. I added some internal dividers to hold the camera.

About camera: Olympic OM D M5 and 45mm lens. Also 12-50mm lens, which, like the camera is weather and dust proof, but I’ve hardly used it yet. Originally I had 17mm and 25mm lenses too, but never used them, so posted home. Lenses both have UV protective filters. Lenses that are not 52mm I put step up rings on, adds quite a bit of protection. I also have 52mm screw in filters: ND, ND Grad, CP, Close up, all screwed together with screw on endcaps. Tiny Olympus detachable flash that I never use. Lens cap lost horse-riding in Kyrgyzstan, replaced Bishkek and now tied on. Clare lost and replaced hers exactly the same time!

Charging the cameras: We both took a spare battery each. We have one PowerMonkey universal charge that will charge either of them (as well as the Canon Clare sent home, as well as the GoPro that we overlooked and brought a charger for).

About bike lube: Generally used a modern Teflon non greasy dry weather lube, also carrying a small bottle of wet weather. But the former ran out in Bishkek, I bought new, and stupidly opened it – even though we weren’t cycling and were flying – doh! In Delhi, managed to find more, but, uninformed, chose Finish Line Ceramic stuff which is totally useless in a tour environment. Only realised this after leaving Delhi. Thereafter reduced to sewing machine oil, which lubes well, but picks up dirt. Finally got decent dry lube again in Yangon. In Thailand this washed off in a day in heavy monsoon showers, so used the wet lube at last.

Why do the tops of lube bottles, and glue tubes, always break on tour?

In India, I switched some unused warm clothes into the camping pannier, so I didn’t have to open it, and put the sleeping bag liner, mosquito net, and bog roll into the clothes bag, as these were needed in some Indian hotels. In Myanmar, I switched this back, as the (mandatory) hotels tended to be quite plush, and we’d sent home most of the warm clothes.

Kit Reviews

The Ortliebs main pockets are shorter, wider, and fatter than the Carradice. Even more overall fatness considering that the extras pocket is on the outside not the backside. This means:

The Ortliebs hold a little bit more bulk. My camping load, that requires shoving into the Carradice, plops into the Ortlieb. The Carradice’s lid extension is a bit mean, and the non-waterproof seam of the nylon top extension is only just covered. So I think the Ortliebs will take quite a lot more.

If the Carradices are put on a rack with a low mounting rail, the bottom of the RHS pannier fouls the deraillieur. This isn’t a real problem, those racks were only invented because short fat Ortlieb panniers end up too high! Just don’t use said low rail with Carradice – my Tubus Cargo rack doesn’t have them.

The bike with the Carradices really can fit through smaller gaps. This is only really notable when parking, but it is noticeable.

The Ortliebs gained more space when Clare put the optional backside pockets on. These are roll-top so waterproof. The brackets seem sturdy and have never released, but aren’t thief-proof, so she’s tied them on. Actually after having some buckles undone (nothing taken) in a crowd in India, we’ve taken to tying with shoelaces all the rear panniers’ out-of-sight rear pocket clips.

The Ortliebs have a maybe useful shoulder strap. With effort, Clare can carry all five of her bags in one go, as they all have shoulder straps. I can’t. OTOH, I’ve only once bothered to attach the shoulder straps on my front Ortliebs, which probably would allow me to. So I obviously don’t really want to. Clare does spend some time fiddling about with the four extra shoulder straps, they’re sometimes in the way.

The Ortlieb’s have a wonderfully easy pull-to-detach-and-carry handle. So easy, in fact, that we’ve fitted the optional security leash on all six, and Clare locks her rears on with a small padlock (the fronts we normally just kind of tangle round, to slow a thief down). Also, when used on a low-rail rack, the handles tend to flop into the side of the wheel and rub on the tyre – no means is provided to secure them on these rear panniers, so they have to be sort of poked between rail and bag (and yes, she does have mudguards). Whereas the Carradice (grey type) hook catches are unclear how to use, awkward and fiddly until you know them, and mine are buried under the flabby rack bag. So, they’re harder for anyone to steal – I don’t lock them to the bike unless we plan to leave it loaded and unattended. Real world advantage is with Carradice here.

The Ortliebs, naturally, seem completely dry in wet conditions. The Carradices seem pretty good too. I have occasionally found dampness is the bottom of the camping pannier, but that’s where I put the wet tent. I guess if I stood them in water they’d leak, they might also if I waded the bike with them. The Ortlieb side pockets, with a single roll-down closure seem dry too. Carradices rear pockets are always dry also, I don’t understand how spray is kept out – but it is! Advantage Ortlieb, but not as much as I’d expect. If I put damp clothing under just the top lid of the Carradice, in dry conditions, it slowly dries out, presumably through the breathing fabric.

Neither bag has fallen off, unless not properly put on. Neither bag has entirely fallen off at all. Occasionally one of the bottom hooks has disengaged, on both types of bag.

The Ortliebs can flop about a lot in yaw axis as their top rail isn’t rigid. When my bike had shimmy problems, this flop seemed to soak it up so it didn’t build up. The Carradices are much more solid in themselves – stiffer. Which is best?

The Ortliebs have inside organiser pockets, Carradice don’t. Now that I use front panniers, I want my rear panniers, basically, to swallow big things with minimal trouble. So in my current use, I don’t have any need for inside pockets.

They weigh pretty much the same. I don’t know which material is toughest in a crash. I suspect which is easiest for an Indian tailor to repair. I could, if I wished, sew badges on my Carradices.

The top hooks on the Ortleib are easy to adjust. The top hooks on the Carradices are absolute bastards to adjust. In a French village, I borrowed a chippies hammer and lump of wood to laboriously move them 1cm. Carradice probably only need to add a smidgeon more clearance so road dust doesn’t clog it. Both bottom hooks are easy to adjust, Carradice has fewer positions and needs a screwdriver. A clear win for Ortlieb.

Both bags have some annoying projections of fixings inside the back of the bag. These can damage things placed inside. The Carradice ones are rivet ends – very low profile but a bit sharpish, they might rip weak fabrics. A bit of robust fabric over, or a couple of layers of duct tape would fix this. The Ortlieb ones are nicely finished with plastic domes, but project substantially. Large flat things therefore won’t sit comfortably, in particular this well supported laptop-shaped space could bend your metal plate, ding your laptop or break a tablet’s screen.

After a few months, Carradice’s outer cotton faded from black to a dusty grey-brown. Clare’s “hazel” Ortliebs outer fabric have faded to the same colour, losing their reddish tint. Odd.

After one year and about 17,000km, neither bags has any significant scuffing to either fabric or plastics. We’ve had no high speed tumbles, but both have been dumped in the dirt at low speeds.

No hanging hooks or bottom hooks have failed. When I decided I would take spare hooks, the obvious place on the Carradice was simply to double one of the hooks on each pannier. Since the rear hook carries nearly all the weight, with where the hooks are on mine, I doubled that. The Ortliebs will only take 2 hooks, and anyway the spare is a slightly different length as they’ve changed their system. In case of serious failures, I’d think the Carradice’s use of simple heavy canvas and substantial aluminium section would make it easier to bodge in the sticks than Ortlieb’s much more sophisticated mouldings.

By Bishkek, the lid buckles on the right-hand (ie sunny side) Ortlieb rears cracked and failed. We figure this was UV degradation. Ortlieb make a spare buckle which can be put on with no sewing. We did that, it’s easy, but this replacement buckle doesn’t allow a slide-to tighten. Therefore the lids on Clare’s Ortliebs flop about. This seems a bit crap. Neither sunny side front Ortlieb has this problem. One suspects Ortlieb shipped a faulty batch. Interestingly, the equivalent part (transparent!) on my decade-old Pacific Outdoor rack bag also failed the same way at the same time. It also got an Ortlieb replacement; perfect since it is a roll top and needs no slide.

Both are proving capable and easy to live with. Rationally, the Ortlieb seems to edge it on practical advantages. However it’s closer than I’d expected, and it is the Ortlieb that has gone wrong, in an irritating though bodgeable way. Aesthetically it’s between old-school simplicity, and ultimate technology for everything.